Coventry  was a borough constituency   which was represented in the House of Commons of England  and its successors, the House of Commons of Great Britain  and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom . 
Centred on the City of Coventry  in Warwickshire , it returned two Members of Parliament  (MPs) from 1295 until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 , when its representation was reduced to one.  The Coventry constituency was abolished for the 1945 general election , when it was split into two new constituencies: Coventry East  and Coventry West . 
Elections were held using the bloc vote  system when electing two MPs (until 1885), and then first-past-the-post  to elect one MP thereafter. 
   
Boundaries  1832–1868 : The City of Coventry and the suburbs thereof.[ 1]   
1868–1918 : The existing parliamentary borough and the Parish of Stoke.[ 2]   
The constituency was unchanged by the Representation of the People Act 1884 .[ 3]   By the time its boundaries were revised in 1918, it was defined as consisting of the city of Coventry, the parishes of St. Michael Without and Holy Trinity Without, the parish of Stoke, and part of the parish of Wyken.[ 4]   
1918–1945 : The county borough of Coventry.[ 5]   
 
History  In the eighteenth century Coventry was, despite its size, known as a corrupt borough.[ 6]   
 
Members of Parliament  
MPs before 1660   
 MPs 1660–1885     Year  1st Member  1st Party  2nd Member  2nd Party     1660, March      Richard Hopkins          Robert Beake         1660, August      William Jesson         1661      Sir Clement Fisher, Bt          Thomas Flynt        1670      Richard Hopkins         1679, Feb      Robert Beake         1679, August      John Stratford        1685      Sir Roger Cave, Bt          Sir Thomas Norton         1689      John Stratford        1690      Richard Hopkins         1695      George Bohun         Thomas Gery        1698      Sir Christopher Hales, Bt         Richard Hopkins         1701, Jan      Thomas Hopkins        1701, Dec      Edward Hopkins         1702      Thomas Gery        1707      Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Bt    Whig       Edward Hopkins         1710, Oct      Robert Craven          Thomas Gery        1710, Dec      Clobery Bromley         1711      Sir Christopher Hales, Bt        1713      Sir Fulwar Skipwith, Bt         1715      (Sir) Adolphus Oughton [ 10]           Sir Thomas Samwell, Bt         1722[ 11]        John Neale         1734      John Bird         1737, Feb      John Neale         1737, Apr      Earl of Euston         1741      William Grove        1747, Jun      Viscount Petersham         1747, Dec      Samuel Greatheed         1761      James Hewitt          Hon. Andrew Archer         1766      Hon. Henry Seymour-Conway         1768      Sir Richard Glyn, Bt         1773      Walter Waring         1774      Edward Roe Yeo    Tory [ 12]      1780, Feb      John Baker Holroyd    Tory [ 12]      1780, Oct   Election abandoned due to rioting; both seats vacant [ 12]      1780, Dec[ 13]        Sir Thomas Hallifax    Whig [ 12]        Thomas Rogers    Whig [ 12]      1781      Edward Roe Yeo    Tory       The Lord Sheffield    Tory [ 12]      1783      Hon. William Seymour-Conway        1784      Sir Sampson Gideon, Bt [ 14]           John Eardley Wilmot         1796      William Wilberforce Bird    Whig [ 12]        Nathaniel Jefferys    Tory [ 12]      1802      Francis William Barlow   Tory [ 12]      1803      Peter Moore    Whig [ 12]      1805      William Mills    Whig [ 12]      1812      Joseph Butterworth    Whig [ 12]      1818      Edward Ellice    Whig [ 15] [ 16] [ 17] [ 18] [ 19] [ 12] [ 20]      1826      Richard Edensor Heathcote    Tory [ 12]        Thomas Bilcliffe Fyler    Tory [ 12]      1830      Edward Ellice    Whig [ 15] [ 16] [ 17] [ 18] [ 19] [ 12] [ 20]      1831      Henry Bulwer    Whig [ 12]      1835       William Williams    Radical [ 20] [ 21] [ 22]      1847       George James Turner    Conservative     1851      Charles Geach    Radical [ 23] [ 24] [ 25] [ 26]      1854      Sir Joseph Paxton    Whig [ 27]      1859       Liberal       Liberal     1863      Morgan Treherne    Conservative     1865       Henry Eaton    Conservative     1867      Henry Jackson    Liberal     1868, March      Samuel Carter    Liberal     1868, November       Alexander Staveley Hill    Conservative     1874       Sir Henry Jackson, Bt    Liberal     1880       William Wills    Liberal     1881      Henry Eaton    Conservative     1885    representation reduced to one member   
 
 MPs 1885–1945   
Election results  
Elections in the 1830s     Ellice was appointed Secretary at War , requiring a by-election. 
    
Elections in the 1840s    
Elections in the 1850s  Turner resigned after being appointed Vice-Chancellor of the High Court , causing a by-election. 
   Geach's death caused a by-election. 
   Phillimore retired from the contest two hours into polling.[ 35]     
Elections in the 1860s  Ellice's death caused a by-election. 
  Paxton's death caused a by-election. 
   Treherne's death caused a by-election. 
  The by-election was declared void on petition due to bribery by Jackson's agent.[ 38]   
   
Elections in the 1870s   
Elections in the 1880s   Jackson resigned after being appointed a judge on the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice , causing a by-election. 
    Eaton was elevated to the peerage, becoming Lord Cheylesmore, causing a by-election. 
  
Elections in the 1890s   Murray    
Elections in the 1900s   Mason    
Elections in the 1910s   Mason     Mason had opposed the war and was replaced as Liberal candidate by Mansel who supported the Coalition Government. Bannington was the candidate of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers .[ 43]   
 
Elections in the 1920s      
Elections in the 1930s    
 References & Notes    ^   "The statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 2 & 3 William IV. Cap. LXIV: An Act to settle and describe the Divisions of Counties, and the Limits of Cities and Boroughs, in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament" . London: His Majesty's statute and law printers. 1832. pp. 300– 383.    ^   "A Collection of the Public General Statutes: 1867/68. Cap. XLVI. An Act to settle and describe the Limits of certain Boroughs and the Divisions of certain Counties in England and Wales, in so far as respects the Election of Members to serve in Parliament" . London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1868. pp. 119– 166.    ^ a   b   Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1886    ^   Hesilrige, Arthur G. M., ed. (1918). Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1918  . London: Dean & Son, Limited. p. 206.     ^   Fraser, Hugh  (1918). The Representation of the People Act, 1918: with explanatory notes  . London: Sweet and Maxwell.    ^   Pages 102 to 105,Lewis Namier , The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III   (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957)    ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k   l   m   n   o   p   q   r   s   t   u   v   w   x   y   z   aa   ab   ac   "British History Online" . Retrieved 17 September  2011 .    ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k   l   m   n   "History of Parliament" . Retrieved 18 September  2011 .    ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   "History of Parliament" . Retrieved 18 September  2011 .    ^   Created a baronet, August 1718    ^   The election of 1722 was declared void because of the "notorious and outrageous Riots, Tumults and Seditions ... in Defiance of the Civil Authority, and in Violation of the Freedom of Elections", and a new writ was issued, but the original victors (Oughton and Neale) were returned once more at the by-election.    ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k   l   m   n   o   p   q   r   s   t   u   v   w   x   Stooks Smith, Henry (1845). The Parliaments of England, from 1st George I., to the Present Time. Vol II: Oxfordshire to Wales Inclusive  . London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. pp. 98– 100. Retrieved 1 November  2018  – via Google Books .     ^   On petition, the election of Hallifax and Rogers was declared void, and their opponents, Yeo and Seymour-Conway, were declared to have been duly elected and seated in their place    ^   Changed his surname to Eardley, July 1789; created The Lord Eardley (in the Peerage of Ireland , September 1789    ^ a   b   Colthart, James M. (1976). "Edward Ellice" . Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. IX  . Toronto. ISBN  0-8020-3319-9 . {{cite book}}:  CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)    ^ a   b   "Rt. Hon. Edward Ellice" . Legacies of British Slave-ownership . University College London. Retrieved 6 May  2018 .    ^ a   b   Bloy, Marjorie. "Edward Ellice, the elder (1781–1863)" . A Web of English History . Retrieved 6 May  2018 .     ^ a   b   Escott, Margaret. "ELLICE, Edward (1783–1863), of Wyke House, nr. Brentford, Mdx" . The History of Parliament . Retrieved 6 May  2018 .     ^ a   b   Miller, Henry (2015). Politics Personified: Portraiture, Caricature and Visual Culture in Britain, c. 1830–80  . Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 154. ISBN  978-0-7190-9084-4 . Retrieved 6 May  2018 .     ^ a   b   c   Churton, Edward  (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838  . pp. 82, 238. Retrieved 21 August  2018  – via Google Books .    ^   "Latest Intelligence"  . Gloucester Journal . 10 August 1850. p. 3. Retrieved 22 October  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Imperial Parliament"  . Exeter and Plymouth Gazette . 10 August 1850. p. 8. Retrieved 22 October  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Election Intelligence"  . Norfolk News . 12 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^ a   b   "Wednesday & Thursday's Posts"  . Stamford Mercury . 11 April 1851. p. 2. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Local & General Intelligence"  . Newcastle Journal . 12 April 1851. p. 5. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Local News"  . Derby Mercury . 9 April 1851. pp. 2– 3. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Commercial"  . Dundalk Democrat, and People's Journal . 25 November 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^ a   b   Escott, Margaret. "Coventry" . The History of Parliament . Retrieved 10 April  2020 .     ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   j   k   l   m   n   o   p   q   r   s   t   Craig, F. W. S. , ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885  (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN  978-1-349-02349-3 .    ^   "Coventry Election"  . Coventry Herald . 21 July 1837. p. 4. Retrieved 10 April  2020  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   Coventry Standard . 13 March 1857. p. 4 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000683/18570313/105/0004 . Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .      ^   "Local Election Movements"  . Aris's Birmingham Gazette . 23 March 1857. p. 1. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Coventry"  . Evening Mail . 27 March 1857. p. 7. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Election Movements"  . Coventry Standard . 20 March 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Coventry Election"  . Coventry Standard . 3 April 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 6 May  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Coventry"  . Aris's Birmingham Gazette  . 3 October 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 6 February  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^ a   b   "Coventry"  . Leamington Spa Courier . 24 June 1865. p. 9. Retrieved 6 February  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Coventry"  . Cumberland and Westmorland Advertiser, and Penrith Literary Chronicle . 24 March 1868. p. 4. Retrieved 6 February  2018  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^   "Latest Election News"  . Edinburgh Evening News  . 2 February 1874. p. 3. Retrieved 29 December  2017  – via British Newspaper Archive .    ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h   i   British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig    ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   The Liberal Year Book, 1907    ^ a   b   Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1901    ^ a   b   c   d   e   f   British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig       
References  Robert Beatson, A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament  (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807) [1]   Craig, F. W. S.  (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949  (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN  0-900178-06-X .  F W S Craig, "British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885" (2nd edition, Aldershot: Parliamentary Research Services, 1989)  Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790  (London: HMSO, 1964)  "The Constitutional Yearbook, 1913" (London: National Unionist Association, 1913)  Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 6)